Tori motions for us to follow her. I smile. Maybe we'll all be able to have a new start. Or, in my case, a fresh start with Tris, one without Marcus and free of the baggage that I have carried for so long. I take Tris's hand, while making sure to keep a firm grasp on Caleb. He won't be getting away from me anytime soon, although I'd much rather beat him black and blue and leave him here. But I promised Tris I would keep him safe. And I never break my promises to her.
I look at her. She is beautiful, her gray eyes bright with curiosity. Her blonde hair frames her face like a golden curtain, ending just below her jaw. She smiles at me. She clutches my hand a little tighter, and moves closer to my side. We walk like this, and I feel an enormous amount of love. If I lost her, I don't know what would happen to me, I only know that it wouldn't be good.
I'm so focused on Tris that I have forgotten about Caleb. I feel a slight relief when I realize that he has stopped struggling. He looks at me with annoyed eyes. I give him a smug look of my own, and he looks down. I look ahead. Technically, Tori is our leader, but she is so far ahead now that i can only see the white glow of her flashlight.
Then I hear a shot. Then another, and another. Within thirty seconds, chaos ensues. "SPLIT UP!" I manage to yell above the screaming. I hear more shots, and I reach frantically for Tris's hand. I don't find it. I start to panic, and suddenly a sharp pain races up my arm. I grimace and resist the urge to look down. I have to find her.
I then realize that Caleb is still by my side, my hand clenched in a death grip around his arm. He has a terrified look on his face. Coward. I feel a hand on my shoulder. It's not Tris's, it's too heavy to be hers. It's Cara. "Tobias! Come on!" She's practically screaming in my ear. I pull back. "No! I have to find Tris!" A bubble of panic wells up. What if she's hurt? What if she's lost? What if sh- "Tobias! She'll be fine! We have to get out of here! Besides, that arm needs something." I glance down at my arm, and see that it is soaked in blood.
I give in to Cara, though I probably never had much of a choice because if she had to she would have put me in a headlock if that's what it took for me to come with her. We jump into a truck that I hadn't noticed before. Cara drives, with me in the passenger seat and Caleb in the back. I crane my neck out the window, looking for any sign of Tris. I try to keep my arm still. Where is she?
All of the sudden the dark looks like a monster, ready to swallow anyone who dares to venture into it. I crane my neck out farther. "Tobias, stop." Cara speaks, staring straight ahead. "Tris is fine. Just because you don't see her doesn't mean she isn't. She probably ran when you yelled for everyone to split up." "Then why didn't sh-" Cara looks at me with a tired look in her eyes, which is enough to cut me off. It is the first time I have seen her tired, the first time I have seen her Erudite eyes without curiosity and imagination in them. I suppose this is why I stop talking.
Soon we see a flashlight up ahead. Tris? As the figure gets closer, my hope fades. It's only Peter. Peter runs over to us, Cara stops the truck and we get out. Cara is the first to talk. "How did you get here?" she asks. Peter clears his throat. "When Four yelled for us to split up, I took off running, and I kept going until I got here. I haven't seen any of the others." As much as I hate him, I can't be mad at him right now. Stranger still, I find myself feeling glad he's alright. Maybe it's because I've lost so much. This makes me think of her.
"Okay." says Cara, snapping me out of my thoughts. "We're missing Christina, Johanna, Tori, and Tris." I bite my lip. "I think we should stay here for a while and see if they show up. If they don't, we'll fan out and start looking for them. For now, position your flashlights so that the light is visible. We nod and do as she asks, though I don't really hear what she says. Caleb and Peter go and sit on the ground a few feet away.
Cara gets a first aid kit out of the truck's glove compartment, and motions for me to sit on top of the truck. I reluctantly oblige, holding out my arm like an offering. I stare out at the inky night, pitch black except for the flashlights. Tris? Where are you? Then my vision tunnels. Headlights. They are getting brighter by the minute. And I see her. "Cara." I whisper. Cara looks at the approaching truck and then looks back at me. "Four, stay he-" I don't hear the rest, because I am already running, running toward the girl I love, toward the girl who started running before the truck stopped.
I only get a glimpse of her tear-stained face before she hurtles herself into my arms. "Tobias!" she sobs, burying her face in my shoulder. "Tris." I breathe. I wrap my uninjured arm around her and life her off the ground. I set her down and lift her face to mine, and I kiss her, feeling every place our lips touch.
She's still here. We're out of the city. She's still here.
